Praeiudicio Sanguinis
by kathrynlovejoy
Summary: 'Prejudice Blood' Times were changing, evil was approaching. When James showed Lily what Severus was really like, Lily was left with nothing but her filthy blood. And a confusing sense of emotion. But she wasn't the only one confused, alone and desperate.


**Disclaimer:** I wish I was her, alas I'm not.

**.~O~.**

Lily Evans barely recalled the night she hastily retreated from Severus Snape's pleads for forgiveness, that dark night in May of 1976. There had been plenty of times during their encounters the year that followed where she had wished she had not turned her back on the boy who had been her friend and confidant for over seven years. It was only when she opened her booklist letter from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry did she give up on Severus Snape; only when the head girl badge fell from the envelope did she realise that it was because of people like Severus Snape that she wouldn't be able to ever tell her parents that their daughter, a filthy mudblood, was head girl. She stood in her room in Magnus MacDonald's house in Vincent Square fighting back tears.

It was August 31st and late in the evening. Lily stood beside her white framed window watching the happenings of the muggles as they walked briskly through the rain, their collars up-turned in an attempt to shield out the typical low temperatures of Westminster. Tomorrow she had to board the scarlet steam engine with Mary MacDonald and as much as Lily knew she would be safe from the dark at the school, she hated to return.

Lily loved Hogwarts as much as the next wizard, but with death and fear loitering on every corner she had her doubts. It had been one month since dark wizards stole the lives of her muggle parents in an attack against the London tube that the Muggle Minister wrote off as a terrorist attack.

In this time Lily lived with her fellow Gryffindor, Mary MacDonald, a wealthy half-blood whose father worked at the ministry. They lived in the heart of London in a large town house with brown bricks. This house had taken Lily under their wing.

There was a soft knock at the door as Mary eased herself into the room. She had pale skin and dark straight hair that clung closely to her small frame.

"Lily, Father and I were wondering if you wanted to visit the theatre with us?" she queried. Lily had turned to face her and smiled warmly.

"Of course, Mere," she replied. "What are we seeing?"

"_Sinbad and the eye of the tiger_; Mum says it's a drama and has the muggle's version of witchcraft in it," Mary chuckled at the sure to be obscured view on magic. "Come on, it starts soon."

The film had been entertaining and the night full of muggle sweets. By ten thirty Lily was out like a light, her trunk and owl Perseus, waiting expectantly by the door for the following day's activities. Her dreams were full of the castle's magic, not that she could recall her dreams by the morning.

As the sun streamed through the window onto Lily's pillow, she woke up with a jolt. "Merlin!"

She inspected the clock on the wall by the door and gasped as she realised it read quarter to ten.

The whole house had over slept, Lily realised. She dashed along the landing from door to door in her nighty waking Mary, her parents and Jason, Mary's thirteen year old brother.

Breakfast was wolfed down at a miraculous speed, before they all tumbled into the family's Austin Allegro Saloon car, trunks wedged between knees and owls flapping frantically in their cages, overly distressed. Magnus MacDonald raced through Westminster and Islington, receiving honks from outraged drivers at frequent intervals. The whole family reached their destination, having broken several muggle laws on their escapade to Kings Cross. Luckily they still had twenty minutes until the train would leave.

The three Gryffindors left the married couple and entered the busy and overcrowded station, trunks in tow, oblivious to the curious stares of the muggles around them. They raced in the general direction of platforms nine and ten before picking up speed and running head long into the brick column situated between the two.

The magical platform was crowded, to say the least. The three teenagers, clad in jeans and sweaters, had managed to cause chaos within seconds. Jason lost control of his trolley on the uneven cobble-stoned floor. It flew out of his hands in the process toppling sideways. Mary had then run into the upturned trolley and her trunk flew through the air and Lily tripped over it once it had landed, falling to her dismay, into the arms of James Potter.

"Oof! Merlin's pants Jason, watch where you're going in the future!" Lily bellowed as she detangled her red hair from the pin on the cloak of her rescuer. She up righted herself and faced her saviour who had caught her with ease. "…Oh, it's you."

"Now, that's no way to thank someone Evans!" spoke the handsome boy on Potter's left.

"Sod off Black," Lily shot at him. Lily turned back to James. "Er- thanks Potter."

"Uh-huh," James said while turning to face Sirius Black, his fellow marauder. "Shall we find a compartment and wreak havoc, Padfoot?"

Lily stood there for a moment bewildered before hastily gathering her trunk and owl and replacing them in their positions on her rusty trolley. She retreated to Mary who was dragging her trunk along the ground towards her own trolley. "Going to help me at all Lily?"

"You can handle yourself," Lily replied. She smirked at the witch's frustration. Mary heaved her trunk back to its respectful place. "To the train?"

Lily led the way to the long chain of carriages. She passed her belongings to the conductor sending him a quick thankyou as he helped her ascend the steps into the train. "Hurry up Mere."

Mary stopped and folded her arms. "What's got your knickers in a knot?"

"Potter."

Mary sighed and shook her head. "I thought we promised to forgive and forget."

"Yeah well, it's not my fault he's an arrogant toe rag, now is it?" Lily muttered, walking down the corridor in search of a compartment, all of which had blue checked seats that ran perpendicularly to the train. They continued to shove through groups of gossiping girls and erupting boys for five minutes until towards the end of the train they found a compartment with only two people possessing it. Two Gryffindor boys sat behind the fold away table playing exploding snaps: Frank Longbottom and Edgar Bones. Lily eased the door open. "Hello, can we join you, every where's full up?"

Frank grinned widely. "Yeah sure Lils; Shove up Ed."

Lily and Mary took seats opposing each other, Lily beside Frank. Frank had grown over the holidays, his shoulders had broadened and his chin had taken shape. The four exchanged the usual pleasantries (how were their holidays etcetera). Lily turned a light pink when she felt Edgar's eyes travel up and down her body. She shifted self-consciously, pulling up the neckline of her white sweater trying to detour them, however his eyes lingered for a moment too long and Lily sent him a look.

"Head Girl, Lily? Congratulations!" Edgar said this very enthusiastically. He was a bit of a weird boy, but he was very noble; often he defended students from the taunts of the Slytherins. He was plain looking with a slim build and light brown hair. He was also intelligent, and took every moment that was socially acceptable to rub it in people's faces.

Lily looked at Edgar's chest and noted happily that he had not received Head Boy. She smiled a little too brightly when she replied. "It's a shame you didn't get it. Do you know who did?"

Edgar did not get to answer; the compartment door was, as if on cue, slid open and Alice Fortescue, Amos Diggory and James Potter stood on the threshold. Lily's eyes bulged widely as she noticed the small shield-shaped badge coloured red and gold glinting on James Potter's black shirted chest. She also happened to notice Alice's and Amos' hands clasped together and her eyebrows knitted together at this new affirmation. Lily glanced over at Frank and saw him too looking at the couple. Without hesitation Lily leaned to her left and planted a light kiss on Frank's cheek before standing up, winking at only Frank and announcing to the compartment that she had to leave to join Potter and the 'sodding' Prefects for the annual meeting.

Lily grabbed James' sleeve as she exited pulling him back up towards the front of the train. She smiled smugly at Alice's confusion as she bypassed her. Hopefully Frank caught on to her actions.

James could barely put together what just occurred in his mind; it was all scrambled. He had stopped walking as he thought and only when Lily smacked him on the side of the face did he actually realise he had stopped walking. Without hesitation he asked the questions he had dared to not ask. "So, are you and Frank an item or what?"

Lily smirked back at him over her shoulder as they had started walking to the front of the train. "What's it to you Potter?"

James faltered at the question and cursed himself inwardly at his lack of response. "I-I," he gave up trying to conjure an answer and they continued down the corridor which had severely emptied, reaching the prefect's compartment in a few minutes.

"I take it you wrote that? Was that really necessary?" Lily had stopped outside the heavy wooden door that had previously just read 'Prefects' in gold lettering. Now though, someone had charmed the words to say 'Very Important Prefects (V.)' in slanted and mismatching calligraphy. Lily pushed open the now ruined door and smiled at the group of twenty-four seated at the table plated with fine food. She walked around the table and stood at Remus Lupin's left in front of one of the two vacant chairs at the mahogany table. "Sorry I'm late; I had some complications to deal with."

James had taken the seat on Lily's left and waited expectantly for Lily to sit. Much to his delight she did in a matter of seconds. Her eyes bulged when a loud and slow farting noise escaped from underneath her backside. The room was pin drop quiet before Potter and Lupin began to fall into hysterics. Much to Lily's Horror and embarrassment the whole room began to laugh along at the fart Lily was certain she had not needed to do. Realisation confronted Lily and she turned her stony face towards Potter. He leaned in towards her, laughing the whole time.

He whispered in her ear, barely audible: "That's for not thanking me earlier for saving your life, Lilyflower."

"You're going to regret this, Potter," Lily whispered back through gritted teeth. James leaned back in his seat looking unbothered by this interaction, a lopsided grin on his unshaven face. "And you did not save my life."

"Right, shall we begin?" James asked the group as they settled down. "Alright, Patrols. You will Patrol with your house partner; Lily and I will put a roster up on your common room notice board. Shifts will rotate. Any questions? No? Good."

The group turned and looked at the lavish plates full of food and grinned. They dug into the food greedily but Lily refused to meet the eyes that bored into the side of her head. Instead she spent the next half hour talking to Remus animatedly. She wasn't in any mood to deal with Potter's antics. However, that didn't stop him trying.

"So Lilyflower," Lily cringed at the use of her pet name. "How were your holidays?"

For one second Lily let her strong façade shatter when the memories of her holidays came crashing down on her. James was quick to notice this, a worry line creased into his brow. It disappeared just as quickly as Lily's had.

"Fine. I dare not ask you about yours," Lily replied quietly.

"What would you dare do Lily?" James asked back. "It appears you're too scared to do anything. For example, if I dared you to interrupt everything McGonagall said during the sorting, I bet you wouldn't."

"Just because I have manners, Potter, you're right, I wouldn't do it. Maybe if your_ example_ was something different…" Lily let her sentence trail off, implying a whole world of possibilities.

Remus looked round at James eyes wide. They both looked at each other in shock, before slowly grinning. Remus turned his attention to Lily. "So Lily, what if we dared you to get drunk at the party in the common room tonight, would you do that?"

"Yes," she replied. They scoffed at her. "What? I would!"

"Fine, do it."

She paled when she considered the results of her actions. There was no way she could get drunk, especially on the first night of her being Head Girl; she had to set an example. But then, who would rat on her? It wasn't like there would be any teachers there, right? Lily took two seconds to make her mind up and gave a quick nod signalling that she would carry out the dare.

The two boys called out in delight before grinning mischievously. James and Remus each grabbed one of Lily's elbows and lifted her off her seat and carried her from the room in the 'milkshake' position, James calling over his shoulder to the room that the meeting was dismissed. They set Lily on her feet once they were in the corridor but they held onto her forearms as she struggled to get free; they tugged her to the end of the train past her compartment and into one occupied by the other half of the marauders, Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew. Peter was reading and Black was preoccupied by a blonde girl from the year below locked in a passionate embrace. It was such a common occurrence no one questioned it.

"Padfoot, Wormy, blonde girl, I have good news. Lily's getting drunk tonight." Sirius shoved the girl off his lap and looked up surprised; Peter actually dropped his book from shock. The blonde girl looked stupidly at Lily, recognition in her eyes; she quickly left the compartment. Lupin and Potter still held onto Lily's forearms.

"Let go of me will you?" Lily pleaded. "I won't run off if you do."

They all looked at her as though she was lying. "Right, sure you won't. Now Lily…"

Lily looked at Sirius as he walked over to her and grabbed her hand dragging her over to his seat. He patted her hand sympathetically. "Have you ever been drunk before?"

Lily snorted, "Yes!"

They shot her a sceptical look. "No."

"Have you ever drunk fire whisky?" Remus asked in disbelief.

Peter didn't wait for her response before exploding into a round of snorting which could be presumed laughter. "Who _hasn't_ drunk firewhisky? Funny one, Moony!"

"I'm not sure '_Moony_' meant that as a joke, Pettigrew. As a matter of fact, no I have never drunken firewhisky. Is that a problem?" Lily said.

"It is if you vomit everywhere."

James' eyes laughed at Lily. He couldn't help but think that he was the smartest person in the world, to be able to con Lily Evans into getting drunk (that of which could lead to a series of dramas). He rubbed the hair on his head slowly as he contemplated all the situations that might happen; most suggested Lily would become his girlfriend. He could just see it, the room would be dark and he would have asked her to dance and she would have said yes because she would be intoxicated. He'd slowly tilt his head down and kiss her and she would kiss him back…

"Right Padfoot?" Sirius asked, breaking him from his fantasy.

"Huh?" he replied dumbly.

"We might play muggle party games. Get everyone to play. It'd be good fun wouldn't it? Gotta love muggles, so inventive..." Sirius said, ignoring James' comment. "Scored a few girlfriends from party games, I have Lily."

"It's because they've been too influenced by the alcohol, Black. Seriously, they must be out of their minds to date you!" Lily teased.

"Actually, I've been described as a _Sex-God_, thank you very much. I doubt you've even been kissed before, let alone had a boyfriend," Sirius retorted. His words struck a sore spot with Lily but she didn't hesitate to reply.

"Actually, I've been kissed by two people."

"Who, your Dad and Brother?"

"My Father's dead and I never had a brother," she said quietly and simply. "Actually, I've been kissed by a Slytherin and a Gryffindor."

"Hear that Prongs?" Remus asked.

James scrutinised Lily's expression that was stone cold; mere minutes before it had been full of laughter. "Snape and Longbottom."

"Snape and _you_, don't you mean Potter?" Lily replied with a question. He looked at her confused for a moment before he remembered the night in fourth year when he had run up to her on Halloween and stolen a kiss before running off again. He began to rub the back of his head again slowly (he had picked up the habit in second year when someone told him Lily liked his hair messy).

The other marauders were quiet for a moment. "So you and Frank haven't…"

Lily shook her head and stood up. "No, we haven't. I have to go get into my school robes, I'll see you lot tonight then?"

Lily left the compartment slowly, leaving behind an unfamiliar situation with the four sixteen year olds. She walked a couple of carriages up towards the front of the train and entered her previous compartment, to find that only Frank and Mary were in it, reading books. Frank looked up when Lily entered, wide-eyed; Mary had a sceptical look on her face.

Lily put her hands up in a surrendering position. "I kissed you Frank to make Alice jealous, for your sake! I swear!"

However, Frank did not look upset but pleased. "It was a brilliant idea Lils, but you could have warned me sooner."

"Sorry. So, shall we keep the pretence up?" Lily asked after she had taken her seat.

Mary was very quiet, however she nodded. "It was a good idea Lily, but maybe a bit extreme."

Lily shrugged before reaching into her rucksack (which she had left in the compartment) for her robes. She pulled out her uniform and turned to Frank who hid his face behind his book again, so that Lily could change. She pulled off her jeans and sweater and then slipped on her white blouse and black stockings, quickly pulling up her knee length matching grey skirt, zipping it shut. She then slipped her grey V neck sweater which had red embroidered into the neck line over her head. Lastly she tied her red and gold tie before telling Frank it was okay for him to lower his book. Lily was ready to return to Hogwarts and just in time, the train began to slow down as it pulled into the familiar Train Station in Hogsmeade.

The three seventh years took their time as they left the train with their rucksacks (their trunk had been magicked to their room upon arrival). They pushed through crowds of people towards the carriages pulled by thin air. The finally reached the front of the queue that waited for the carriages to return and stood in silence, Lily right beside Frank for appearance's sake. Lily hadn't yet remembered to inform them of her dare to get drunk tonight and she couldn't think of how to bring up the subject. They each stumbled into the carriage that had approached them and sat facing one another waiting for more people to join them. Lily wasn't at all surprised to find that Black, Lupin, Pettigrew and Potter graced them with this. Black sat against Lily's side, squashing her uncomfortably however; she preferred her position over Mary's seat beside a lanky Potter. Black smirked down at Lily.

"Excited for tonight Lily?" he asked her.

"What's tonight?" Mary asked her dark hair ruffled in places.

"Lily's getting wasted," Remus stated calmly, a glint in his eyes.

"What?" Frank asked.

"Blotto, blazed, plastered, pickled," Remus clarified, unsuccessfully. He sighed. "Intoxicated from firewhisky?"

Recognition alight Mary and Frank's faces. They looked at Lily with confusion still. "James dared her too," Peter squeaked.

Frank frowned. "Why on Earth would you accept?"

"It's Lily, she's trying to prove a point," Potter said smugly. "I said she never does anything fun or adventurous, so she told me to dare her, so I did."

"It wasn't quite like that…" Lily muttered. She looked out the carriage window and smiled at the lights of Hogwarts that smiled down on her; home. It slowly pulled to stop in front of the stairs. "Well we're here; Potter we have to help the second years."

They filed out begrudgingly into the open grassed area before the huge oak front doors. The group walked together up the stairs and there seemed to be no second years needing help so Lily and James followed the others into the great hall on the right. The room was in chaos as people hugged and yelled at those they hadn't seen for two or so months. On the left the students in Green sat quietly, the Blues sat chatting and reading, the Yellows whispered to one another and the Reds, noticeably the loudest, were screaming and running all over the place. They walked into the hall, bypassing the Hufflepuff table to the far right of the hall peeling off on either side on the long wooden table and marching down towards the front so that Lily and James could welcome new Gryffindors. Lily sat beside the fifteen empty plates on the left which were waiting expectantly for new and eager students. The room quietened down and everyone looked up to see fifty or sixty witches and wizards walk down the aisle between the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Lily recalled when she was sorted away from her only friend at the time, a life changing decision that for a long time she didn't know how to respond to.

**.~O~.**

The sorting and the feast flew by in the blink of an eye and Dumbledore dismissed them far too soon for Lily's liking (to Lily's pleasure Gryffindor received thirteen new students). Why does it seem that things you look forward to come much too slowly, and things you want to postpone come around too quickly? Lily's mind was a mess. She knew she was being pathetic, but this was a big deal to her. She had never been drunk and did not know how to handle herself in such a situation. She didn't even know what it tasted like- what if she spat it out in distaste? And then if she thought hard enough she thought about how she might act around people, who knows what Lily really thinks about her fellow peers?

The marauders followed closely behind Lily as she walked slowly towards the portrait of the fat lady. There was no delaying it. She muttered the password '_Bundaberg_' and climbed through the hole.

"Okay, Lilyflower, we're going to give you five minutes to get a party dress on. If you aren't back here by then we'll presume you forfeit and will torment you for the rest of your life. Hurry along now," James said far too enthusiastically. He had removed his tie and untucked his shirt, also unbuttoning the top buttons. He looked comfortable and relaxed and it was driving Lily insane. She and Mary hurried up to their dorm and ruffled through their trunks that the house elves had placed at the end of their beds. Finally Mary settled on a denim skirt and red blouse and Lily wore black jeans and a pink cardigan with a lace back. They looked decent enough and reluctantly in Lily's case, descended the staircase and joined Sirius and Remus.

The boys grinned widely at the new arrivals taking their appearance in none too subtle manor. Mary was the more beautiful out of the two. She was skinny and had natural beauty whereas Lily was more muscular built in the legs and bottom with a more developed chest. Lily also had her flaming red hair and when she had difficulty reading, gold framed round glasses. Mary, although she was shy was constantly fighting of guys attention, having a new boyfriend every week; Lily had had only two boyfriends and the last one was two years ago, she was more of a guy's best friend, although she had received a few offers to Hogsmede last year.

"Drink Evans!" Sirius yelled at them drunkenly. They were gone five minutes and he had already downed three bottles. He passed Lily an already opened bottle and raised his eyebrows as she scrutinised the contents. She slowly raised the bottle to her lips and took a small sip. To her delight, it tasted amazing and warmed her up. She took another sip and then a gulp. The results were almost instantaneous- she already felt much happier and her fingers tingled with excitement. Mary had dragged her to the middle of the room where people had begun to dance and in a usual case Lily wouldn't have danced, but she did. Mary had downed her bottle immediately; she was no stranger to firewhisky. Lily held her bottle in her hand above her head as she swayed to the music before taking another gulp and then another; soon her bottle was empty.

"Are you having fun?" Mary yelled in her ear. Lily grinned widely and nodded her head. She pointed to her bottle signalling she wanted another and retreated to a corner grabbing two bottles and slipping one into her deep pocket. She twisted off the cap in seconds and in half a minute she'd managed to slurp down half the bottle. She frowned angrily as a hand stopped her from raising the bottle to her lips again and yelled out in frustration and James took the bottle from her hand.

"Whoa Lily, settle down a bit. Don't get too carried away. Trust me," he said, his voice raised.

"I trust you!" she yelled back before giggling wildly. She grabbed James' hand. "Come dance with me Potter!"

She dragged James out to where Mary was dancing and began to dance enthusiastically. She took her bottle back from James and took a small sip this time before burping loudly; this set off another round of giggles. She leant over to James and spoke into his ear. "I'm not really dating Frank. I'm just making Alice jealous!"

She started dancing _with_ James now, holding one of his hands and swaying very close to him. "Why are you telling me this?" James looked uncomfortable; he couldn't understand why he felt guilty.

Lily looked up into his hazel eyes and smiled. They were pressed against each other swaying unconsciously to the song _'can you dance like a hippogriff?'_ They danced for the next ten minutes and Lily soon finished the bottle that was in her pocket. James asked her again why she told him this but she just shook her head and continued to dance. They soon stopped dancing and went to get more drinks before sitting on one of the armchairs squashed together, drinking again, oblivious to the fact that on a normal day they _would not _be sharing a seat. They sat in silence mostly, just drinking and laughing. Everyone was too intoxicated to take notice of them, so James asked her again why she was making Alice jealous and why she told him that they weren't really dating.

"Frank loves Alice; I'm doing this for him. And I told you because- because, I… I li- I think you're funny."

Lily laughed quietly before hiccoughing loudly.

Lily had leaned into James for warmth. They sat quietly, James' head resting on hers with their eyes shut, slowly drifting off to sleep. What seemed like minutes later someone tumbled into them and woke Lily up with a start. She gagged and covered her mouth with her hand trying to keep from throwing up the heavy amount of alcohol she consumed that tried to escape at her sudden awakening; she ran from James and the party to the girl's dormitories (fortunately the seventh years' room was at the bottom of the stairs) and into the bathroom where she proceeded to wretch her guts out. She leant over the toilet bowl and threw up until the whole contents of the bottles. She sat back against the cubicle wall before closing her eyes and falling asleep.

She thought she'd been asleep for hours, however when warm hands pressed against her forehead, waking her, she realised the party was still thriving from the sounds of things. She opened her eyes and her head lolled to the side, everything a blur. Blinking, everything came into focus and she pushed the person aside for another face to face with the toilet bowl. She sat back down with her eyes closed and wiped her mouth on her sleeve.

"I'm such an idiot," she muttered. She was thinking about the dare and how foolish she had been to try and prove James sodding Potter wrong.

When the person beside her chuckled deeply her head snapped to attention. The chuckle was much deeper than the expected light one of Mary's. Lily's eyes sort the other pairs out and her jaw dropped. His hazel eyes looked warm and welcoming but Lily overlooked this.

"What are you doing? How did you get in here? Are you crazy?" Lily blurted out, eyes wide. James Potter was crouched down beside her, his arms laden with food and water and even a jumper. Clearly he knew how to deal with someone in Lily's condition. She looked at him curiously- he still had not spoken. How was it possible that he got into this room? It was the girl's bathroom. But the more important question- how had he managed to fool the charmed staircase and get in here in the first place? Lily's eye brows came together in a line of confusion.

James knelt rather uncomfortably beside Lily in the small, rather cold cubicle. She frowned at him and he shrugged. He reached up and smoothed out the line on her forehead with his thumb. "I knew you'd be here so I came to help. I know the best hangover remedy that cures it before it even sets in."

Lily didn't know what to think- _again_. He kept confusing her; last year all he did was bait her and follow her around, and now he was being _nice_. She brought her legs to her chest and hugged herself, chaffing her arms to keep warm. She looked at him again and blushed under his gaze. What was it Mary had said about women falling in love with what they hear, men with what they see? Lily shook her head. She pushed James' hand away but he grasped hers and pulled her into a standing position. He led her back into her dorm and to her four-poster bed. She didn't ask how he knew it was hers. He sat her on her bed and knelt in front of her. He began to unbuckle her sandals and laid them out neatly beside the bed. Lily looked down awkwardly at him.

"This is weird."

James looked back up at her and smirked. He stood up from his position on the floor and grabbed Lily's hands lifting them above her head. Lily's cardigan came off easily (it smelt like the contents of the toilet). He pulled his own grey sweatshirt over her head before taking a seat on the bed opposite Lily's magnificent one, not wanting to push his luck. "I think Alice, Dorcas and Marlene would appreciate it if we were quiet."

Lily screwed up her nose at this remark, she wasn't a fan of her dorm mates. "Why are you helping me? How did you get in here?"

He shrugged. "I flew in," he mumbled nodding his head at the broom that leant up against the wall beside the window.

Lily scrutinized him from her bed. That was clever she thought, but couldn't bear to compliment the boy so she kept her thought to herself. "Potter- I'd like to apologise for the way I behaved in the past, to you."

James sat and shook his head slowly. "No, I should apologise. I never considered your feelings; I terrorised you and Snivellus without thinking, but I don't regret it. If I hadn't you wouldn't have seen him for who he truly is, Lily."

Lily sighed and rubbed her eyes to try and still the room from its constant motion. "I don't think I'll remember this in the morning, James. I've drank a lot.

"Did you say something about a hangover remedy?"

He half smiled at her, mainly from sadness. He flicked his wand which he had placed beside him on the bed over at the food platter and it floated over to her. "Fruit and water and staying warm. Drink lots of water."

James stood and dusted his hands on his jeans. He walked over to Lily and she was looking down at the fruit assortment and rested his hand on the top of her head. He felt her immediately stiffen at his touch and he inwardly cringed. He placed a soft kiss on her hair and turned around back to the window. "Goodnight Lily."

He mounted his broom and left the room rather quickly after this, missing Lily's spoken farewell:

"Goodnight, James."

**.~O~.**

**Author's Note:** I apologise for any grammatical errors.


End file.
